Great Dining... Wisconsin Style!

For a long time now I have promised myself that I would share some of the places at which Heidi and I have stopped – both for lodging and dinner – on our sojourns north for annual business and fishing trips. I need to create a list so you can see the ones we have visited, but for now, there are a couple that are really worth mentioning all by themselves. Our most recent trip put the exclamation point on two of those places: the lodging destination of choice is the Best Western in Rice Lake, Wisconsin and the dinner stop is Hanson’s Hideaway, just ten miles away in Haugen.

I have now stayed at the Best Western in Rice Lake on at least a dozen occasions at various times of the year – mostly in the spring, but in the summer, fall and winter, too. What impresses me most is that the Hotel is always very clean and well-groomed. Upgrades – like a fitness center – have been added over the years and everything there is always in tip-top shape. There is also a very friendly atmosphere and we have always been made to feel very welcome and at home – every time we stop. It’s a great place to stop for the evening.

We used to have dinner at a restaurant that is very close by. But service and food seemed to go downhill as prices were headed in the other direction, so we started to look for another place to enjoy dinner. After the six-and-a-half-hour drive, dinner is an important part of the trip! We ultimately found two places that would easily qualify as Wisconsin Supper Clubs (although nowhere in the names is that moniker mentioned); each having great food at very reasonable prices. However, my favorite and preferred destination for dinner has become – as mentioned above – Hanson’s Hideaway in Haugen.

Hanson’s (I also mentioned it in an article I wrote on ice fishing) is absolutely outstanding. I have now had dinner there perhaps a half-dozen times over the past several years and the quality has remained consistent: always excellent! There are many things to like about the place. The owners are always present and are always smiling, upbeat and accommodating. The salad bar is perhaps one of the best I have encountered; there is always fresh pickled herring, the bleu cheese dressing (homemade, I’m sure) is incredibly good and there are many other items available to make a great salad before dinner.

One of the main reasons I go is for the blue gill fish fry. The price has gone up a bit since I first ate there, but the gills – a half pound of them – are unquestionably to die for. Accompanied by your choice of crispy fries, a baked potato, hash browns or rice and some great tartar sauce, I am unable to select anything else on the menu… as good as the other items sound. On our most recent trip, Heidi tried the cod – also a half-pound – and reported it to be excellent as well.

The food is always hot and tasty, the prices are extremely reasonable and the service has always been good. I know that Hanson’s is a favorite of the locals in the area… but if, in your travels, you are anywhere near Rice Lake, you owe it to yourself and anyone else with you, to pay a visit to Hanson’s Hideaway for dinner. And if there is anyone in the entire state of Illinois who is even slightly interested in how it’s correctly done at a Wisconsin restaurant (call it a supper club if you like), then you should put Hanson’s on you list of places to visit for a lesson. Oh, and by the way… after dinner, stop at the ice-milk machine and serve yourself a Dairy Queen-style ice cream cone – chocolate or vanilla (or even a mix of both) – for dessert. It’s a great way to put the exclamation point on a truly excellent dinner.

Thanks to all of you at Hanson’s Hideaway for many excellent dinners… We’ll be back again next year!

As always, I hope to see you On the Lake!

R. Karl
rkarl@onthelake.net